The Nightmare's End – and a Heartbreaking Return
The world turned upside down in a single horrifying instant. Blood sprayed like a ruptured dam, and the grotesque sounds of flesh ripping and bones cracking echoed through the dark warehouse. Human bodies swelled and twisted, bones shattering and reforming into something far beyond human. They became monsters straight out of hell.
Kang Seojun could only watch in frozen horror, his mind reeling. It was worse than any nightmare he had ever imagined. No horror movie, no game, no nightmare could have prepared him for this sight.
‘Too terrifying!’
‘How… how can a human body turn into something like that?!’
‘I can’t take it…!’
“Ugh… uuuueeeek!!”
One of the teammates could no longer hold back. He vomited violently right there in the middle of the horror. His low willpower stat had finally cracked under the pressure.
“W-what?!”
Only then did the deputy team leader snap back to his senses. His face drained of color.
‘We have to get out of here now!’
The targets had already mutated into these abominations. There was no point in staying a second longer. If they stood here quietly, the curse would soon reach them too.
The deputy leader abandoned his men without a second thought and sprinted toward the entrance at full speed.
“Deputy Leader!”
The rest of the team didn’t matter. Kang Seojun could hear them behind him, but he didn’t look back. They could chase him if they wanted. Right now, his only priority was survival.
‘As fast as possible! Out of this nightmare!’
To him, the darkness was no longer shelter. It felt like a living thing, gnawing at his flesh and sucking the life from his bones.
“Hee… hiiieeeek!!”
Every breath was a struggle. The darkness pressed down on him like invisible claws.
“Boom!”
Suddenly, his vision flashed white.
Kang Seojun had been running at full speed when he slammed hard into something solid. The impact forced him to stop dead. His teammates behind him also froze, caught off guard by the same unseen force.
“You… you?!”
Serohwa.
Jin Serin stood there like a guardian angel, her white-blonde hair glowing under the fluorescent lights, her shield smeared with black blood. She blocked the entire path ahead.
“Why… why is Seo Eunha here?!”
“Th-that shield… it’s covered in black blood!”
“T-that means… it means they’re all…”
“D-don’t tell me…!”
Kang Seojun’s instinct screamed the truth. The two hunters he had sent to tail Seo Eunha were dead. And he was next.
“Uwaaaah…”
“Squish! Crack! Thud!”
Behind them, the mutated monsters were closing in faster than ever, shrinking the distance with every horrifying step.
“Hee… heeeiik!”
“D-don’t come closer!!”
“Aaaah!! This is a nightmare!!”
One side was death. The other was a living curse. Both were closing in.
“Huuu… huuhuhu…”
Kang Seojun felt the final hope inside him wither away. Then he heard a cold, twisted laugh.
At first he didn’t know whose voice it was, but the sound grew louder and more demonic.
“Huhuhehehe… hehehehehe!”
“DING!”
A head rolled across the floor, severed cleanly from the neck. Only then did Kang Seojun realize the laughter had come from the monster’s own severed mouth.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The scene shifted into a one-woman slaughter.
Serohwa had already prepared herself for any emergency. She didn’t even need to activate Time for Counterattack. It took her exactly three seconds to reduce the entire swarm of mutated monsters to scattered pieces.
The raw power of an A-rank hunter. Unmatched.
“Huuu…”
Serohwa wiped the blood from her cheek and took a deep breath. Her legs wobbled slightly as she tried to steady herself.
“Th-thank you, Eunha-ssi. Thanks to you, the mission is over.”
Soon the grotesque exterior was gone. Kang Seojun walked toward her, looking normal again.
“…No, thank you.”
Serohwa gave him a modest smile, but her eyes were serious.
“All I did was swing the shield a few times. You did everything else—planning, strategy, even luring the monsters into position. And you even gave me this shield.”
‘In just a day or two, he figured out the enemy’s movements perfectly and built this airtight operation. Compared to that, what did I do…? Honestly… nothing.’
Serohwa felt a wave of shame. She had been the one receiving help the whole time.
‘Besides… if it weren’t for Kang Seojun-ssi, those monsters would have been tailing me the entire time. And if I had been caught off guard while resting…’
The thought alone made her shiver.
“I should have repaid you every single time you saved me. This time especially… I will never forget what you did.”
Thanks to Kang Seojun, she had not only eliminated the spy hiding inside Sungjin Group, but had also dealt with every hunter hunting her. On top of that, there was the debt from her previous life she still owed him.
Yet every time she looked at him, the debt only seemed to grow. The guilt was crushing her.
‘I must be so useless… Did I even help in my last life at all…? I just kept relying on him…’
She felt a deep, heavy sadness settle over her. The expression on her face darkened noticeably.
‘He said he would save me just moments ago… and now… I’m already ashamed.’
Serohwa’s face suddenly turned pale and pained.
“Hmm…”
Kang Seojun thought she looked tired. He was right. She had spent the entire day in meetings and had even had to deal with his own exhaustion earlier. She needed rest.
“We should finish cleaning up here quickly. Eunha-ssi. Where are the mutated monsters’ bodies?”
Serohwa answered with forced composure.
“Ah. I moved them next to the containers.”
Those were the two hunters she had been tailing before they died.
“I’ll clean everything up in a moment. Just wait here for a second.”
“I-I’ll help too!”
“Then take this, Eunha-ssi.”
Kang Seojun pulled a small spray bottle from his pocket and handed it to her.
“This is…”
It was the Prosperous Realm Cleanliness Spray.
“First, spray it all over your clothes. Then, when I finish cleaning the bodies, spray the remaining residue on top.”
Serohwa carefully tested it on her sleeve. A faint hissing sound followed as the liquid evaporated with foam.
“Pffft!”
“Bubububububububububububu!”
The stain vanished completely. It was a sight no A-rank hunter had ever seen in their lifetime.
“Wha… what?!”
Serohwa wiped her sleeve again, eyes wide with disbelief.
“This is… this is amazing!”
While she was still processing the spray, Kang Seojun peeled the Loop Trap Scroll from the container door.
“Tear!”
──────────────《ITEM》──────────────
▶ Dimensional Shop Loop Trap Scroll
◆ Grade
[Superior]
◆ Description
- One-time scroll containing the Loop Trap magic. Consumes Dimensional Currency proportional to casting time.
- Performance improves in narrow, dark, and quiet spaces.
- This item can only be purchased from the Dimensional Shop.
────────────────
Loop Trap.
An illusionary magic that traps enemies in an infinite repeating space.
Originally a weak spell that could be dispelled by any single high stat, but in the early stages against weak foes, it had been a lifesaver.
‘Thanks to this, I made good money.’
Kang Seojun picked up the scattered pieces of mutated monster bodies and threw them into the Dimensional Shop window.
[Sold 《Low-tier Demon’s Bone》.]
[Sold 《Low-tier Demon’s Leather》.]
[Sold 《Low-tier Demon’s Blood》.]
[Sold 《Low-tier Demon’s Heart》.]
[Sold 《Low-tier Demon’s Gaze》.]
……
The mutated monsters’ corpses were valuable materials for the shop. After deducting the scroll cost, a decent profit came in.
“Hm, hmm…”
Serohwa watched Kang Seojun move with surprising speed, her gaze filled with amazement.
Feeling embarrassed, he hurried even more.
“Pick… pick up…”
‘This is the last one.’
He grabbed the remaining arm and tossed it into the shop.
[Sold 《Low-tier Demon’s Bone》.]
[Sold 《Low-tier Demon’s Leather》.]
[Sold 《Low-tier Demon’s Blood》.]
[Sold 《Low-tier Demon’s Tendon》.]
……
Only bloodstains and residue remained now.
“Chiiiiiik!!”
Serohwa sprayed the Prosperous Realm Cleanliness Spray thoroughly over the filthy remnants.
“Bububububububububu!”
The blood and flesh residue rose like steam, emitting a pungent but clean-smelling gas. Every trace of contamination was dissolved into odorless gas through cutting-edge space technology.
“Cough! Cough!”
Once the lingering smell finally cleared, the warehouse looked as clean as if no battle had ever taken place.
The cleanup was complete. All that remained was getting back to the academy safely.
Before stepping out of the warehouse with Serohwa, Kang Seojun scanned the entire area with his Eye of Providence. There were no listening devices, no tails. No one was following them anymore.
“Then, Eunha-ssi. Thank you for your hard work today.”
He bowed slightly and began walking out.
“W-wait! Aren’t you coming with me?!”
“Eunha-ssi should rest soon. I can just take a taxi.”
“B-but…”
Serohwa unconsciously grabbed Kang Seojun’s wrist.
“?”
Kang Seojun stopped and turned. Serohwa quickly released him, her face flushed with embarrassment.
“Let’s go together… I’ll escort you all the way to the academy.”
“That’s too much trouble. I’m really sorry for causing you so much work.”
He had already burdened her too much today.
But then—
“Ugh!!”
“Chiiirrr!”
A sharp, stabbing pain suddenly shot through his side, as if stabbed by a hidden blade.
“Kuhak!”
Kang Seojun clutched his side, dropping to one knee.
“S-Seojun-ssi?!”
Serohwa rushed to support him.
“I- I’m fine… kuuuhak! Kuuulak!”
“Pfft!”
A large mouthful of dark blood sprayed from his mouth.
“H-Huuuuhhh!!”
“I- It’s nothing… kueek!”
“Pshhh!”
More blood gushed out.
“S-Seojun-ssi! Are you okay?! Seojun!”
Serohwa quickly grabbed his chin and checked his face. Kang Seojun’s eyes were rolling back, whites showing.
“H-Huk!”
Serohwa’s face went deathly pale.
“Seojun!! Hold on!! Kang Seojun!!!!”